Aim This study aimed to assess the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and psychosocial comorbidities in undergraduate dental students in a southern Brazilian university, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it aimed to verify the association between psychosocial factors and TMD. Methods Fonseca Anamnestic Index, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), a socioeconomic questionnaire, and questions about academic performance and social distancing were applied. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the association of predictive variables with TMD. Results The prevalence of TMD was found to be 82.4%, and more than half of the students had some degree of stress, anxiety, and depression. Students who had symptoms of stress (RR 1.11; 95% CI 1.04-1.19), anxiety (RR 1.19; 95% CI 1.12-1.27) and reported academic performance worsening (RR 1.12; 95% CI 1.07-1.19) had higher TMD scores. Conclusion The findings suggest that TMD was highly prevalent among dental students at a federal university in southern Brazil during the pandemic, being associated with high levels of stress, anxiety, poor academic performance, and greater social distancing.

Abstract The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the effects of individual-level and tooth-level factors on apical periodontitis (AP) in an urban population in southern Brazil. A random sample of digital panoramic radiographs (n = 545) from a dental school database was evaluated. The diagnosis of AP was determined by using a dichotomous scale (yes/no). AP was assessed according to gender, age, presence and quality of endodontic treatment (ET), presence of an intracanal post, coronal condition, and dental group. Data were analyzed descriptively and through multilevel Poisson regression analysis, considering teeth characteristics (level 1) nested in individuals (level 2). In this sample of 545 participants, the prevalence of AP was 49.5% (n =2 70) and ET was 43.5% (n = 237). Considering 13,595 teeth, AP was identified in 596 (4.4%) and ET in 617 (4.5%). Of the teeth with ET, 153 (24.8%) presented AP. Among individual-level factors, the disease was not significantly associated with gender or age. For tooth-level factors, AP was significantly associated with ET quality: teeth with short fillings (< 3 mm) and teeth with over-fillings had 2.77 (CI: 1.95–3.94, p < 0.001) and 1.08 (CI: 0.39–2.98, p < 0.001) higher prevalence of AP, respectively. There was no association between AP and age, gender, dental group, coronal condition, or the presence of an intracanal post. AP was highly prevalent in this population, and multilevel analysis indicated a significant association with ET quality.

AIM: To analyze all court lawsuits in Brazil in relation to civil liability involving radiographic and tomographic images up to February 2014. METHODS: All Brazilian courts were surveyed for "civil liability," "error," "radiology," "radiography," and "tomography," returning 3923 second-instance lawsuits. Out of them were excluded labor legislation, health insurance coverage of radiological examinations, and criminal liability cases and 359 were selected. Compliance with expert reports, involvement of imaging exams, the defendant professional, the reasons of claims and convictions, and indemnity were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 359 selected lawsuits, physicians were defendants in 71%, radiologist physicians in 10.6% and dentists in 18.4%. The prevalence of physicians found liable was related to the lack or delay in requesting the imaging exams 49.6%, and among radiologist physicians, misdiagnosis 47.1%. Considering the dentists, imaging exams had mostly an indirect involvement, and failure of the proposed treatment 73.8% was the most prevalent cause of dentists found liable; no radiologist was sued. Regarding indemnity, 50% of lawsuits resulted in compensation up to R$ 20,000 US$ 8,583. CONCLUSIONS: Misdiagnosis was the main cause of claims and radiologists were found liable. The medical field showed the largest absolute number of claims and physicians were found liable, but the highest proportion was directed to dentists.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the accuracy of coronal and sagittal CT sections to detect cavities simulating root resorption. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 60 mandibular incisors were embedded in plaster bases, and cavities with 0.6, 1.2 or 1.8 mm in diameter and 0.3, 0.6 or 0.9 mm in depth (small, medium and large cavities) were drilled on the buccal surfaces with high-speed round burs with diameters of 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 mm to simulate external inflammatory root resorption. Simulations in the cervical, middle and apical thirds of each tooth root were made randomly. The Dental Scan software was used to obtain 1-mm-thick axial images from direct scanning, which were reconstructed in the coronal and sagittal planes using 3D software (Syngo FastView). Each series was loaded into the software. Fourteen images of each tooth were reconstructed in the coronal plane and 14 in the sagittal plane. A total of 1,652 images were obtained for analysis. Series information, tooth number and the plane reconstructed were stored. The images generated were saved on a CD-ROM together with the visualization software (Syngo FastView). Images were analyzed by a previously calibrated blinded, radiologist. Cochran's Q test was conducted separately for each region analyzed followed by pair-wise comparison by the McNemar test (p=0.05). RESULTS: No statistically significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in the diagnosis of simulated resorption between the apical, middle, and coronal thirds. When the axial plane was assessed separately, diagnoses were statistically different (p<0.05) among the three root thirds. The apical third differed significantly (p<0.05) from the cervical and middle thirds. Diagnostic errors were more often observed in the apical third compared to the cervical and middle thirds. Mid-sized cavities revealed no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between planes, irrespective of the third in which the resorptions were located. CONCLUSION: When tomographic sections are requested for the diagnosis of buccal or lingual external root resorption, sagittal sections afford the best image characterization of the resorption process.